Wrestling: Passaic Valley closes out regular season on a high note

ROAD TO ATLANTIC CITY - Passaic Valley senior Tom Dunphy (top) is favored at 138 pounds at this weekend's District 13 Tournament at West Essex High School in North Caldwell.

Hornets close regular season on a high note

LITTLE FALLS - The never-ending snow put a big time crimp into the final week of the regular season for the Passaic Valley wrestling team.

When it was all said and done, Joe Benvenuti's team did manage to get one match in, last Saturday at Bishop Ahr, and the Hornets came away with another impressive victory, 55-12 in Edison. The win wrapped up the regular season for Passaic Valley, which finished 12-11 after a very slow start.

The District 13 championships begin the second season of wrestling on Saturday, Feb. 22 at West Essex High School. The top three wrestlers in each weight class at the districts will compete at the Region 4 championships at West Orange High School. The regions commence on Wednesday, Feb. 26, continue on Feb. 28 and conclude on March 1. The top three wrestlers in each weight class at Region 4 will then earn a trip to the NJSIAA championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City from March 7-9.

Benvenuti was hoping his team could get a bunch of matches in last week to conclude the regular season, but the weather had different ideas.

"More snow equaled more canceled matches," Benvenuti said. "We were supposed have matches with Montville and Glen Ridge, but the snow took care of that. I was happy with our final match at Bishop Ahr last Saturday. We finished about .500, which was very important because it says a lot about our kids and their ability to fight back."

Versus Bishop Ahr, John Nakhleh won his 11th match of the season at 145 pounds, with a solid pin.

"John used his legs well in that match," Benvenuti said. "He's tough on top, especially when he believes in himself. When he turns an opponent with this strength, he's going to get his hand raised."

"Andriani was back after missing some time with stitches on his forehead," Benvenuti said. "It was great to see he was sharp and hasn't missed a step, even though he only wrestled 15 matches this season."

Nicholas DeNora continued to wrestle well at 106 pounds, with an 8-3 win over a quality opponent. Benvenuti was also happy with the way the middle of his lineup has performed.

"From 126-138 pounds, we have three of the best around," Benvenuti said of Tyler Tepe (126), Billy Bici (132) and Tom Dunphy (138). "All of them won against solid opponents from Bishop Ahr. It was good to see them push themselves to win before the start of the districts."

The win over Bishop Ahr was Passaic Valley's sixth straight and eighth over the last 10 matches.